Full 25-point door and opener safety check with every visit - springs, cables, rollers, tracks, and your LiftMaster or Chamberlain opener included
You get a price before we start. It does not change when the truck arrives.
Clopay Cable & Drum Replacement: The Weatherford Owner’s Guide
Clopay cable and drum replacement in Weatherford typically runs $130-$250 installed, parts and labor included, and we stock Clopay-compatible cables and drums on the truck for most common residential models. The cable is the braided steel line that carries the door’s lifting force, and the drum is the grooved wheel it coils around at the top of the shaft. Most Weatherford homeowners discover the failure the hard way: the door jams at an angle, one cable snaps with a sound like a rifle shot, or the door won’t lift on one side at all.
It’s a common failure point on any torsion spring system, and Clopay doors are no exception. What matters is matching the cable length and drum profile to your specific panel weight and track radius. Get that wrong and the door pulls unevenly, which wears out the other cable within months. Marcus Deller and our crew have replaced enough of these across Weatherford to know which drum pairs with which Clopay series without guessing.
Which Clopay Models This Applies To
We replace cables and drums on the full Clopay residential lineup, including the Gallery, Bridgeport, Coachman, Classic, and Value Plus series. The compatibility gotcha most owners run into is drum size: Clopay uses a range of drum profiles (typically 4-inch, 5-inch, and 6-inch) depending on door height and cable length. A standard 7-foot door that’s been converted or had a high-lift kit added will need a different drum than a stock one, and swapping a 4-inch drum onto a door that needs a 6-inch means the cable either stacks unevenly or runs out of groove before the door fully opens.
How to identify what you have: look for the Clopay label on the interior of the bottom panel or the end stile. It’ll show the model series and sometimes the door height. If the label is gone, measure the full height of the door and the diameter of the existing drum. OEM Clopay cables are cut to spec for each door height, and while quality aftermarket equivalents exist (and we use them when it makes sense), a cable that’s two inches too long will throw off the balance. We’ll match what’s actually on the door now, not what the parts catalog assumes.
Signs Your Clopay Cable & Drum Replacement Is Failing

- Door hangs uneven or crooked on the way up or down. One cable has stretched or is about to let go, so the panel assembly isn’t lifting square. The door will feel heavier on one side and the rollers may bind in the track.
- Frayed or unraveling cable strands near the bottom bracket or the drum. This is the clearest warning sign. Once individual strands start popping, the full break is usually days away, not months.
- Visible gaps between cable coils on the drum, or cable spilling off the drum edge. A worn drum groove lets the cable climb or drop, which changes the lift ratio and puts uneven stress on the torsion spring.
- A loud snap followed by the door slamming to one side, often partially closed. That’s the cable breaking under tension. The door may now be wedged in the opening and won’t respond to the opener safely.
- The door opens a few inches, then stalls or reverses. The cable isn’t feeding onto the drum correctly and the opener’s force sensor is hitting its limit. Continuing to press the opener will burn out the motor or bend the top panel.
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Cable and drum replacement in Weatherford runs $130-$250 installed. The low end covers a single cable and drum on a standard 7-foot residential Clopay door with no other issues found. The higher end covers both cables matched with new drums on a taller or older door, or a job where the bottom bracket or fasteners also need replacement. We also handle the related work that often surfaces at the same time: a torsion spring that’s lost tension ($180-$340) or track realignment after a cable snap ($120-$240).
Here’s what you’ll see before we touch anything: a written price with the part numbers and labor broken out, per Clause 1 of The Haven Standard. Clause 4 is why the technician photographs the failed cable and drum before quoting a replacement; you see the frayed strands, the worn drum groove, and the measurement. The price you sign off on is the price you pay. If a second issue is found mid-repair, work stops and the scope updates in writing. Every visit closes with a documented photo record of what was removed and what went in. Warranty on parts is manufacturer-backed, and our labor is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if it’s not right, we make it right.
DIY or Call Us?

We’ll say this plainly: the cables and drums on a torsion spring system are under tension even when the door is fully open. Releasing that tension incorrectly is how people lose fingers or catch a spring bracket to the face. This is not a panel swap or a roller replacement; it’s one of the two or three genuinely dangerous jobs on the door. We don’t give step-by-step guidance for this repair, and a careful owner shouldn’t want it.
What you can safely do is identify the failure and document it. Take a photo of the frayed cable or the drum showing the groove condition. Look for the Clopay label while the door is still closed. Then call us at (940) 353-1271. We’ll ask what you saw and heard, confirm what’s likely failed based on your description, and give you a price range before we dispatch a technician. Name the part, quote the range, then do the work.
FAQs
Clopay cables generally last 8-12 years in Parker County’s climate, though drums can go 15-plus if the door stays balanced. The Texas heat shortens cable life more than anything else: high summer attic temperatures and wide temperature swings cause the steel strands to fatigue faster than they would in a milder climate. If your door is past the ten-year mark, a visual check annually is the cheapest maintenance you’ll ever do.
No. Cables cannot be spliced or repaired safely; the steel is work-hardened and won’t take a reliable new connection. Drums with worn grooves can’t be machined back to spec in the field and cost more to “save” than to replace. We replace the cable, and we replace the drum if its groove is no longer holding the cable cleanly. Call (940) 353-1271 and we’ll tell you which one you need based on what we can see in your photos.
Most single-door cable and drum replacements take 45-90 minutes from arrival to test cycle. If we’re doing both cables, both drums, and a torsion spring that’s lost tension, plan on two hours. You’ll get a named technician and an on-the-way text before we arrive, and the written scope has the flat price on it before work starts.
Yes. We keep the common Clopay residential cable lengths and the standard 4-inch, 5-inch, and 6-inch drums stocked, along with bottom brackets and fasteners. If your door has a non-standard high-lift setup or a taller custom panel stack, we’ll confirm the spec and have the right drum by the next business day. We also stock compatible parts for LiftMaster, Chamberlain, and Genie openers, though for cable and drum work those rarely come into play.
If your Clopay door is hanging crooked, that cable isn’t going to heal on its own. Call (940) 353-1271 and we’ll give you a straight price range before sending anyone out. Written quote, photo record, done right.
Written by Marcus Deller, Owner, Servo Garage Doors Weatherford at Servo Garage Doors Weatherford, serving Weatherford and nearby areas.






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